This invention relates to a display card and a blank therefor having a pocket adapted to receive and permit the dispensing of sheets of printed matter. More particularly, the invention relates to a display card blank which is so arranged that the article-retaining pocket is integral with the card when the same is assembled.
The provision of a display card or sign bearing advertising material or related matter is, of course, well known. Likewise, it is also well known to attach coupons or other printed matter on such a card in such a way that consumers can remove such printed matter if they care to do so. Frequently such printed matter is provided in pad form which is then either stapled or glued to the display card in a position which does not interfere with the advertising or other message printed on the card, and is also in a position which is readily accessible to consumers to whom the message is directed.
In providing display cards which incorporate printed matter removable by a series of consumers, the approach which utilizes a pad of printed matter affixed to the display card provides a cumbersome and costly approach to the dissemination of the desired material. For example, the stapling or gluing of the padded printed material requires a separate and distinct operation thereby increasing the cost of the assembly by requiring additional handling. Similarly, when the pad of printed matter is completely exhausted, the remaining display card must be discarded and an entirely new card with attached pad substituted therefor to provide additional printed matter for successive consumers. Thus there is the additional cost of an entirely new display card each time a pad of the printed matter has been exhausted.
The prior art has recognized several of those deficiencies and attempts have been made to overcome them. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,292,290, issued on Dec. 20, 1966 to Ralph C. Potter, discloses a display unit formed from a single sheet which can be used for display and dispensing. That patent makes reference to the advantages of a single unit in terms of lower cost by reason of the elimination of the separate gluing or stapling operations.
Additionally, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,511, issued on June 19, 1973, to William B. Greedman, there is disclosed a display card with a separately formed pocket, a portion of which must be attached to the display card by means of staples or gluing. Additionally, Freedman discloses a display card with an integral pocket, but the structure of the pocket is so arranged that printing of the face of the display card and of the face of the front panel of the article retaining pocket must be done in two separate passes on a printing press since each of those faces is oppositely disposed on the blank utilized to form that structure. The requirement that printing be applied to the face of the display card and to the front panel of the article-retaining pocket would require substantial additional costs because of the additional printing operation.
Furthermore, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,001,958, issued Jan. 11, 1977, to Francis D. Fecko, there is disclosed a display card wherein the card and its associated pocket are formed from a single sheet of material. However, the device disclosed in that patent is so arranged that the article-retaining pocket is offset from the edge of the display card, thereby reducing the unobstructed area on which advertising or other messages can be printed. Additionally, the Fecko card uses a double thickness main panel, thereby substantially increasing the cost of the card.
It is an object of the present invention to obviate the above-described difficulties.